Donald Trump did not pay any income tax, or paid very little income tax, in 1991 and 1993, according to documents obtained by Politico and published Friday.
The documents showed that Trump did not pay taxes due to losses on properties he owned, not due to any illegal activity.
“Welcome to the real estate business,” Trump told Politico in an emailed response to the documents.
During an economic downturn in the early 1990s, Trump made deals with creditors to forgive his debt, but his losses were big enough to cancel out any taxes he owed on forgiven debt, according to documents from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Control reviewed by Politico.
Trump so far has declined to release his tax returns, claiming that he cannot release them while he’s being audited by the IRS. It’s typical for presidential candidates to release their tax returns, and both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have noted that Trump is breaking that tradition.
